Puri Tour of 2015

Episode – 04

Arindam Babu:- There are several small temples of so many gods and goddesses inside the Jagannath Temple premises. Look at this temple. King of Kanchi used to worship this particular idol of Bhagwan Ganesh. This idol is popularly known as Kanchi Ganesh.

Runa Devi:- We will go to that temple now which has a steep rocky staircases.

Arindam Babu:- Ok! Let us go there.

Runa Devi:- Oh! This is the temple of Bhagwan Nrusingha .

Arindam Babu:- In Bengali, we will say Narasingha. Let us get down from this temple and sit somewhere to relax a bit.

Runa Devi:- Yeah! That’s better.

Priest of a small temple inside Jagannath Temple premises:- Oh! Both of you are resting. Good! Take the divine Tulsi leaf each in your hand.

Runa Devi and Arindam Babu(uttered after taking one Tulsi leaf each):- Ok!

Priest of a small temple inside Jagannath Temple premises:- Dakshina diyo!

Arindam Babu(uttered while giving a 5 rupee coin to the priest):- Accha!

Priest of a small temple inside Jagannath Temple premises:- Bhagawan sadaa tomankoro mangal koribo. Jai Jagannath.

Runa Devi and Arindam Babu(said jointly):- Jai Jagannath.

Arindam Babu:- See! How these priests are doing business in the name of God! Have we asked for Tulsi leaf? He gave that Tulsi leaf to us and took away 5 rupees from us.

Runa Devi:- Hmm.ki aar koraa jaabe. But, I have read in a book that Tulsi leaf is the most powerful and most divine leaf of the Universe as per Indian mythology.

Arindam Babu:- I have no idea about it. Anyway, come on; let us go inside the main temple, i.e. the Jagannath Temple.

Arindam Babu:- Surely! It is a divine place inside the Jagannath Temple. We can see the idol of Bhagwan Balaram, Bhagwan Jagannath and Subhadra Devi. So many paintings are there on the inner walls of this temple. These paintings may be about some mythological stories related to Bhagwan Jagannath.

Runa Devi(while staring at Bhagwan Jagannath and offering namaskar with two hands together):- Let me offer my prayer to Bhagwan Jagannath for 5 minutes. Please don’t disturb.

Arindam Babu:- Oh! Ok! Ok!

Runa Devi:- We are seeing Bhagwan Jagannath from a very far distance. There is a VIP Gate through which you can reach nearer to Bhagwan Jagannath.

Arindam Babu:- See! My logic is different. I don’t bow or offer namaskar to any God or Goddess. I believe that if any God or Goddess feels that you are a good human being and have done something good for human beings or human society, then automatically, you will get their blessings, no matter, whether you offer puja or prayer to them from nearer or from a far away distance.

Runa Devi:- I don’t want to hear anything. I will offer puja to Bhagwan Jagannath and that too by entering through the VIP Gate. My Chotokaka(youngest uncle) visit Puri at least once in every year. Chotokaka knows a panda(Odisha Priest) who has always helped Chotokaka to offer puja to Bhagwan Jagannath.

Arindam Babu:- Besh! Tomar Chotokaka r panda ke diyeyi naa hoy pujo taa debe. Now, let us go out of this temple and eat something. I am feeling hungry. By the way, these people inside the temple are packing those sweets as the prasads of Jagannath Puja.

Runa Devi:- Khaja of Ganguram Sweets is the best. We will buy it from that sweet shop only. Now, let us go outside the temple.

A person near the Royal Kitchen of Jagannath Temple:- O Bhaina! Arrey! 5 tonka ticket kaati ki ranna dekhya aaiso.

Arindam Babu:- Ok! Take the 10 rupees.

Runa Devi:- The kitchen is good. 7 pots are kept one after another and still all the foods get cooked so well! These palwans are carrying pots of water from a divine well and then pouring it on a place from where the water is getting supplied into the main kitchen. We will eat the Bhog.

Arindam Babu:- No! No! Somehow, I am not getting attracted towards that Bhog of Jagannath Temple. We will eat outside the temple.

Run Devi:- But, after having our lunch, we will again come back to this temple to see the Dhwaja uttalan.

Arindam Babu:- Dhwaja! What is Dhwaja?

Runa Devi:- Everyday, the flag of Jagannath Temple gets changed. Even the small flags tied up on the wheel at the top of Jagannath Temple get sold at auction. Oh! Don’t stare at me like a dumb fellow. You will watch it at around 3.30 PM. come on, let us go outside the temple and have our lunch.

Arindam Babu:- Ok! Aha! There is a Ram Mandir and a Hanuman Mandir also inside the Jagannath Temple premises. That’s great!

A staff of Kanhaialal Marwari Bhojanalay at Grand Road:- Aaiye saab! Aaiye! Veg thali unlimited at 50 bucks only.

Arindam Babu:- Lovely Marwari food indeed. Look at the plate. Rice, 2 ghee Roti, Curry patta Dal, Imli ka Chatney, Aloo ka Dum, Ghooghni, Aloo Gobhi curry, 1 Mirchi and sour curd. What else do you want in 50 bucks?

Runa Devi:- Taratari khaao dekhini! Already, it is 3.05 PM. But, yes, the taste of the foods is really good. I have heard that in Puri, the South Indian and Marwari Restaurants offer foods at a much cheaper rate than Bengali and Oriya Restaurants. Jaldi khao, dhwaja tolaa dekhte jete hobe.

Arindam Babu:- Practice makes a man perfect. Really! The way these two people climbed up on the temple roof! Climbing up at the temple roof with flags is easier than climbing down from the temple roof with flags.

Runa Devi:- People are appreciating their efforts. See! The moment, the two men climbed up the roof of the temple and changed the flag tied with the Chakra; the people are stretching their two hands upwards towards the sky and chanting, ‘JAI JAGANNATH’. There is some supernatural power of Bhagwan Jagannath! Maybe, that’s why; people from all over the world visit this temple!

Arindam Babu:- Baah! Such a good thing we have watched. Now, let us get out from here. We have to book our tickets at OTDC office.

Officer of OTDC Office:- For Konark Sun Temple tour, tour fee is Rs. 430/- per head and for Chilika Lake tour, tour fee is Rs. 300/- per head.

Arindam Babu:- Ok! Book the tickets for two persons for these two tours. Here is the money.

Officer of OTDC Office:- Thanks for booking, Sir! Take these tickets. Tomorrow, our Bus will start from Panthashala Office at 6.30 AM for Konark Tour. The day after tomorrow, our Bus will start from that same spot at 7 AM for Chilika Lake Tour.